The Inspiration Invasion
by Vkitty
Summary: AU of Season three. One day when Lorne comes back to the club, he finds a little girl sitting in the middle of the stage. When he brings her to the Fang Gang they discover she is much more than she seems...
1. Default Chapter

The Tragic

_Set in Angel back when Caritas was functional, beyond that, the timeline is your choice..._

_One day, Lorne comes into the club to find a small child sitting in the middle of the stage, humming to herself. She looks up at Lorne, smiles, and ends up going back to the hotel. The little girl is a muse, just being around her inspires creativity, genius, and in some cases, mischief. Wolfram and Hart wants to capture her to harness her power for their side, and the child has been sent to Lorne for protection, though who is doing the sending is a mystery._

It was late at night when Lorne returned from McDonalds (he had an inside friend) to his beloved club, Caritas. He unlocked the door and walked in when he suddenly was hit with an enormous sad feeling. He heard a little voice from the stage.

_"The ousel cock, so black of hue,  
__With orange-tawny bill,  
__The throstle with his note so true,  
__The wren with little quill,  
  
__"The finch, the sparrow, and the lark,  
__The plain-song cuckoo grey;  
__Whose note full many a man doth mark,  
__And dares not answer nay." _

"Hello?" Lorne asked. He looked around the corner and saw a small figure with very long, wavy brown hair, sitting on the stage with a leaf-crown on her head and with her back to him. "Excuse me?" the girl turned around and Lorne felt even more sadness radiating from her. "Hey, little girl," he said.

_"You spotted snakes with double tongue,  
__Thorny hedgehogs be not seen;  
__Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,  
__Come not near our fairy queen," _Lorne walked closer to the little girl, but the closer he got, the sadder he got also. As if he'd lost someone close to him. He crouched next to the little girl.

"Hey, what's your name?" he asked.

"Melpomene," she said. The girl couldn't have been more than four or five, but the dress she had on pooled around her and trailed for a few feet, and it looked like she had on big boots (her feet were covered by the dress). The girl turned around quickly and started singing again.

"_Resuena el arpa del pensar,  
__con la canción,  
__que triste y dulce calma ya,  
__todo dolor. _

_"La idea surge angelical  
__en su claror,  
__y es ella canto celestial  
__de fe y amor." _

"Do you know where your mommy is?" Lorne asked. The girl shook her head. "Okay,"Yep, we're going to see Angel," he said, picking up the sword and club. "Hurry up," come on. I'll take you somewhere,"

"Where?" the girl asked. Lorne thought of something.

"You're going to see the _angels_," he said. The girl smiled.

"Angels?" she asked. Lorne nodded. The girl picked up the long trail of dress and Lorne saw something gleam from under the lace.

"Hm," he moved the trail away and saw a large sword and a club. His eyes widened.

**A/N: Yay! I finished the first chapter of my very first gidgetgirl challenge! Yay! Okay, the challenge it came from is above. Sadly nothing is mine. Here is the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: Melpomene is not mine (yeah she belongs to the Greeks), the songs belong to Shakespeare and Mary Baker Eddy, Angel: the series is not mine, the plot is not mine, the words are not mine (they belong to the alphabet) and pleeeeeese please don't sue me because I only own ONE good pair of jeans (the others are simply okay).**

**So, read and review.**


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"Who is she?" Angel asked, looking at the girl.

"She says her name's Melpomene," Lorne said. "And she knows her bit of verse,"

"Well," said Cordelia, walking into the room. "I called the missing persons line, they say they don't have any reports about a girl who looks like her with her name,"

"Maybe we should just ask her where she's from?" Wesley asked.

"That's using the easy way out," Cordy said. "You know it'll never work."

"Calliope," the girl whispered.

"Then again, I could be wrong," Cordy said.

"What did you say?" Lorne asked. The girl looked at the computer.

"Ask Calliope," the girl said.

"That's strange," Wesley muttered.

"What's strange? Did I miss something?" Cordelia asked.

"Calliope is the muse of epic poetry," Angel said.

"And Melpomene is the name of the muse of tragedy," Wesley said, getting down a book. "Lorne, you said that when you saw her you felt... sad?"

"It was like The Perfect Storm all over again," Lorne agreed. "Um... did you note the big sword and the boots,"

"_Cothurnes," _Wesley tapped the book. "Boots worn traditionally by tragic actors. Melpomene was usually depicted as wearing _cothurnes, _and a garland and carrying a club and a sword."

"So she's a muse?" Cordelia asked. "Then how did she end up this way?"

"The muses have been around since Ancient Greece, you'd think she'd have grown up," Angel said.

"Which means something must have turned her this way," Wesley thought outloud. Then, someone screamed.

------------

A/N: The end of chapter. Not as wonderfully good as the last one, but pretty good for my writing ability. My plot bunny's fed with energizers, and apparently they aren't as long lasting as the commercial said. The next chapter, I hope, will be longer. I'm kind of doing this (Like the Mystery of the Thrift Store Pants) in between my HP parody series and my other HP story (which is the main focus of my plot bunny) so expect the updates to be about two weeks in between, why? Because I have a lot of homework. This being the end of the author's note:

Please, please, pleeeeze review! Reviews make me work harder! Thank you, goodbye.


	3. Chapter Three

"_Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore-  
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." _

"Edgar Allen Poe," said the girl. "Try again."

"_By a route obscure and lonely,  
Haunted by ill angels only,  
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,  
On a black throne reigns upright,  
I have reached these lands but newly  
From an ultimate dim Thule-  
From a wild clime that lieth, sublime,  
Out of SPACE- out of TIME."_ Melpomene recited.

"Edgar Allen Poe, again."

"Okay, both of you-- stop." Cordelia said. There were two girls now, Melpomene, and a girl with crimped blonde hair that had according to Fred, appeared in the hallway when she was going to the lobby. "You, what is your name?" Cordy asked.

"Clio," the blonde girl said, self-assuredly.

"And you two know each other?" Cordy asked.

"She's my sister," Clio said. "Melpomene."

"Where did you two come from?" Cordy asked. The two girls looked at her with blank faces. "Okay, that's not going to work," Cordelia sighed.

"Where's the green man?" Melpomene asked. "He was--"

"Such a tragic case, exiled from his family because of his strange attraction to the soft flowing notes of the lyre." Clio said.

"What?" Cordy asked.

"What?" Clio asked with a hint of a smile on her face. She definitely new more than she let on.

"How do you know about Lorne?" Cordy asked.

"What?" Clio repeated, smiling from ear-to-ear now. Like Melpomene, they had found her in a dress far too large for her, only this one was more medieval than the other girl's. She was clutching a scroll to her chest and there was a large book in front of her, which Wesley and Angel were currently trying to decipher. 

"_Quoth the raven, "Nevermore"_." Melpomene said again.

"Stop quoting the ravens!" Cordy shouted. She turned to the small, blonde girl. "What do you know?" The girl grinned.

"What makes you think I know so much?" she asked. "Cordelia Chase of Sunnydale, California, winner of the May Queen award?"

"Cliiio," Melpomene whined.

"Be quiet, Melpomene!" Clio hissed. 

"I'm going to tell Calliope on you..." Melpomene sang.  
  
"Who's this Calliope you keep on talking about?" Cordelia asked.

"Calliope's our sister," Melpomene said.

"Yeah, who isn't?" Cordy deadpanned as Clio jumped off of the chair and walked to the bookcase. "Hey, come back here--" Cordelia fell back into the chair as a vision ripped through her mind. Melpomene looked at her, frightened.

"Clio!" she said.

"Leave her," Clio said. "We've got someone to find," she grabbed a book out of the bookcase and walked out of the room. Melpomene looked after her.

"NO!" she screeched, stretching out her hand. A light burst from her fingertips and hit her sister square in the back. Clio fell to the ground with her hand over her heart. "Uh oh," Melpomene whispered.

----------

A/N: Pretty confusing, ain't it? It'll get less confusing in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter four: Scrolls

Melpomene stood looking at her older sister with wide eyes as Clio thrashed around on the floor. Melpomene made to back up but Clio grabbed her ankle.

"You--" she sniffed, "lift this spell off of me--" a hiccup, "or so help me god--" tears poured from her eyes, "I will-- do something really, really bad!" Melpomene shrugged, picked up the book that Clio had grabbed from the bookcase, and started walking to the staircase.

"Deal with it," she called nonchalantly. Clio narrowed her eyes and hiccupped again as Melpomene walked up the stairs with her long skirt trailing behind her.

--------

"The book seems to be in some form of Ancient Greek," Wesley muttered as he looked at the small writing through a magnifying glass. "But the words don't seem to be making any sense."

"Well what do you have?" Angel asked.

"So far," Wesley looked over at his notes. "Goddess, hate, boat, train, stomach."

"Maybe the girl could help you figure it out," Lorne suggested. "After all, it is her book." Then the door opened and Cordelia entered holding the blonde girl who was hyperventilating.

"Guys, I think we may have a problem," she said.

"Put her in the chair," Wesley said, pointing to a chair. Cordy went to put the girl into the chair as the girl's breath came in wheezing gasps. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know. They were fighting and I had a vision-- next thing I know the other one is gone and she was in the lobby." Cordy said. "I did get some stuff out of her, though. Her name is Clio, and I heard more about our mysterious Calliope,"

"She's another muse," Angel said. "The muse of..." he tried to remember. "History?"

"Right," Wesley looked at the girl. "Tell us what happened to you," the girl looked at him furiously and let out a howl and started crying again.

"Here, here," Lorne crouched in front of the girl. "Do you think you can sing for me, honey bunch?" he asked. The girl glared at him.

"I don't _do _music," she hissed, sniffing. "I do poetry,"

"Well, put something to a song," Lorne said. "Maybe this will tell us a little bit," the girl drew a breath and started to sing half-heartedly.

"_On Cummorah Hill  
__The angel of the Lord  
__Flashed at Joseph Smith  
__His flaming sword._

_  
__Nigh Cummorah Hill  
__Joseph found  
__The Lost Tribe's golden plates  
__Hidden in the ground.  
__He found the golden plates  
__With their Revelation pages,  
__And the angel bade him read  
__The mysteries of the ages." _They looked at Lorne expectantly.

"Well?" Wesley asked. Lorne gulped.

"Well," he said. "She's a muse."

"But what happened to her?" Angel asked.

"Her sister happened to her," Lorne said. "It's not very clear, but she was trying to find a way to find her other sister, Calliope. So that she could reverse the whammy on them, so they could fight."

"Fight what?" Angel asked.

"That's just it," Lorne said. "She doesn't know."

------------

A/N: Ooh, the plot (kinda) thickens. The verse belongs to Shakespeare (seriously, who else do I steal my stuff from?) and the idea for the fic belongs to the almighty Gidgetgirl and her muse. I've pretty much gotten the first few chapters down in my head. In the next chapter, have you been wondering where Gunn is?


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter five: Comic

"_A treacherous smiler_

_With teeth white as milk,_

**The girl ran down the hill, tears streaming down her cheeks. She pulled to a stop when she reached the edge of the cliff. **

_A savage beguiler_

_In sheathings of silk,_

**She struggled to undo the clasps of the dress she wore and stepped out of it. Something growled behind her as she stepped out of the dress. **

_The sea creeps to pillage,_

_She leaps on her prey,_

**She quickly threw the dress over the cliff and looked behind her. Nothing. She sighed, then something barked and pounced on her. **

_A child of the village was _

_Murdered today._

**Her arms flailed as something pawed at her, making small cuts all over. **

"**STOP!" the animal jumped off. "DON'T TRY TO RUN!" she wouldn't.**

_She came up to meet him_

_In a smooth golden cloak,_

**She stretched out her arms and faced the edge of the cliff. Footsteps ran towards her and a shot was fired. She ducked and turned around. **

_She choked him and beat him _

_To death for a joke._

**She opened her mouth an a long, high-pitched cry escaped. Thousands of shiny black eyes opened as she yelled. Wings beat against the air. **

_Her bright locks were tangled,_

_She shouted for joy,_

_With one hand she strangled_

_A strong little boy._

**Another cry (but this one was in pain) filled the air, it was soon reduced to a gurgle as the man's jugular was bitten.**

_Now in silence she lingers_

_Beside him all night_

_To wash her long fingers_

_In silvery light."_

**She turned her back on him, she never liked death. It just wasn't her thing. She looked back at the city below her and stretched her arms out. She leaped. **

_**-**_

"So, how did you like my song?" Melpomene looked at the bird sitting in front of her. "You know, you remind me of one of my sisters. She likes birds," she said. The bird did nothing.

"Sweetie?" Melpomene turned around to see Cordy walking up to her. "We need you downstairs, to undo what you did to your sister." The bird flew away and Melpomene turned back around.

"No." she said simply. "Do it yourself," Cordelia went to sit next to her by the window.

"We know that you're the only one who can undo what you did," she said softly. "So can you help us?" she asked. Melpomene shook her head.

"Sorry." Cordelia's eyes narrowed.

"So you're just going to be like this, are you?" she asked. Melpomene nodded. "Okay, here, look at me," Melpomene turned towards Cordy and Cordy took her hand. "I'm just going to say this," she said. "You don't have to help us if you don't want to, but if you don't, you'll get no food." The little girl's eyes widened.

"You can't do that!" she said.

"Trust me, I can." Cordelia said. "So are you going to make your sister okay, or not?"

"Fine," Melpomene said through gritted teeth. She held up her hand and flicked her wrist. "She's good,"

"Do you want to go downstairs now?" Cordelia asked. Melpomene shook her head.

"I want to sleep," she said. "Can I sleep here?" Cordelia looked around, the room they were in was almost completely broken down, there was dust everywhere and large sheets thrown over old furniture.

"Are you sure?" Cordy asked. Melpomene nodded.

"I like it," she said.

"Okay then," Cordy said. "Do you want some other clothes though?" she asked. Melpomene shook her head. "Sleep well, then," Cordelia backed out of the room. She hurried down the stairs to see if the girl had really reversed the spell on her sister.

True to her word, when Cordelia got to Wesley's office, Clio was looking withdrawn, but certainly not sad.

"Cordelia," Wesley started when he saw her. "You said you had a vision right before you found her?"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Cordy said.

"What was it?" he asked.

"Um... it was a woodsy place, there were cars all around like a make-out point. And there was a girl, she was really afraid, and running from something. That's all I remember," she said.

"A make-out point?" Lorne asked. "But there are thousands of those in LA,"

"Oh! And a cliff, and the girl, she was dressed really funny." Cordelia remembered. "Almost like..."

"Like she was going to a renaissance fair?" a voice asked. Gunn was standing in the doorway with a scratched up girl leaning on him. She had on some sort of Elizabethan, frilly white pantaloons and a corset.

"That's her!" Cordelia said. "Where'd you find her?"

"She landed in the back of my truck," Gunn said. "From at least a hundred feet,"

"And she's not dead?" Wesley asked. Clio, who had been very quiet, gasped.

"You know her?" Lorne asked. Clio nodded as Gunn sat the girl down.

"Erato," she said.

"The muse of love and eroticism," Wesley muttered. "She doesn't seem to be a child though,"

"Well that would be a bit pedophiliac wouldn't it?" Cordy asked. "Having the muse of eroticism be a four-year-old?"

"Is she dead?" Clio asked timidly.

"No, I don't think so," Gunn said. "Wait, who're you? Did I miss something?"

"This is Clio, she's a little muse," Cordelia said. "Her and her little sister decided to give us a ring, because they have something creepy coming after them."

"These marks," Wesley said, looking at the new muse. "They weren't made by something very bad- they're shallow. Possibly made by something domestic,"

"Like a pussycat?" Lorne asked.

"Perhaps," Wesley said. "Or something with even less claw than that. Erm... Clio, could you help me here?" he asked. The little girl got off of her chair and went to look at the cuts. "What do you think?" Wesley asked.

"Dogs," Clio said. "Dogs can sense us, when we're working,"

"What do you mean, working?" Gunn asked.

"Cordelia, you say that the vision took place at a," Wesley cleared his throat, "make-out point?" Cordy nodded. "And Erato thrives in such an atmosphere, she must have been having some fun using her powers,"

"Calliope told us not to," Clio said. "She told us to lay low and not to muse anyone. That's why Melpomene stopped me. If we do our powers, then they'll see us,"

"Who will see you?" Lorne asked. Clio shrugged.

-

**A/n: Man, I haven't updated in a while. Oh well. The song doesn't belong to me, it belongs to... well, I'm not sure. And the idea belongs to Gidgetgirl. All hail Gidget girl.**


End file.
